What is the one thing you need to get into Australia? A visa. How hard can that be? On the Australian government’s website you have a special page “Immigration and Visas”, which has a link to “Visa Finder” right under it. That link leads you to a page which gives you eighteen different types of visas to choose from. Then I checked for the Netherlands on our government’s website. Do we also have that many different visas? No, we don’t even come close. We have five. Even with that many options for Australian visas, there could be a situation where maybe you don’t fit the categories. Could you get in anyway? No. Well, when you try to follow Wikipedia's answer it says that you can for a short period of time, a couple of hours, or if you are from a particular country. But if you’re just a normal Dutch person, no way. The funny thing is, according to World Travel Guide Australians are allowed into the Netherlands without a visa as long as they have a valid passport and a retour ticket.

You now have your visa, but you are not done yet. The Economist has publiced an article about the point system in Australia. People that will potentially settle in Australia get points for youth, education, English-speaking ability and the possession of needed skills. This system is called NUMAS (numerically weighted multifactor assessment system) and the higher you score on it, the more likely it is for you to be allowed to settle.

You have probably heard of the “refugee crisis” in 2015. A great deal of refugees came into Europe by boat through Italy. When talking about illegal immigration in Australia there is one thing you should know: you should not arrive illegally by boat. The Australian governments says “Any people smuggling boat that attempts to travel to Australia illegally will be turned back. Settlement in Australia will never be an option for anyone who travels illegally by boat. The rules apply to everyone: families, children, unaccompanied children, educated and skilled”. That’s not all. There is an article in The Guardian that says that even though Papua New Guinea’s supreme court ruled Manus Island, an offshore detention camp, “illegal and unconstitutional” last year in April, the centre continues to operate.

By Jasmijn Baldee